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Babies On Board

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2008

Tennessee coach Pat Head Summitt went into labor with her son during a recruiting trip.

Maryland coach Brenda Frese is about to one-up basketball's all-time winningest coach.

Frese could go into labor during a game. Eight months pregnant with twins, Frese is due to give birth March 11.

Her due date is right before the start of the NCAA Tournament. The Terps are expected to be there in the thick of things and could in fact wind up in Tampa.

We already know it won't happen on the road. Frese is forbidden to travel with her team. Let the pregnancy pools begin.

Frese, a fixture at Maryland since she joined the program in 2002 and helped deliver the school's first women's NCAA title in 2006, is known as a blonde dynamo and fierce competitor.

Pregnancy, it seems, has changed her coaching style slightly. Gone are the days of Frese running up and down courtside yelling at her players. A calmer Frese sometimes delegates duties to her assistants and needs the comfort of a cushion while she sits to help with a bulging disk in her back.

Frese revealed her pregnancy to the team in the fall. She told the players the school got two verbal commitments who were going to become a part of the team and held up a photo of the sonogram.

Her brother has suggested naming the twins Pat and Geno, after the Tennessee and UConn coaches. That won't happen, but a courtside birth remains a possibility.

I've got Feb. 24 in the pregnancy pool. Maryland hosts Florida State. It sounds like a great game to have a baby.

GAME OF THE WEEK
Duke at Maryland

ESPN2, tonight at 7

With all due respect to North Carolina, this could be a preview of the ACC Tournament final. The Blue Devils (13-3) seemed to have adapted to new coach Joanne P. McCallie and have bought into her philosophies on what makes successful teams — a heavy does of defense and rebounding. After an 86-84 loss to Penn State on Dec. 2, Duke has reeled off eight in a row, including a 49-44 victory against Rutgers that halted a three-game losing streak.

Maryland (19-1) continues to position itself as the team to beat in the ACC. Except for a minor hiccup, its lone loss of the season Dec. 3 to then-No. 4-ranked Rutgers, the Terps are riding a nine-game winning streak, which includes three in a row against ACC opponents. They look to make if four against Duke.

THEY SAID IT

Ever since I was a freshman, we've always had something to deal with. Everyone is strong, everyone will work hard and we'll be fine. — Rutgers senior guard Matee Ajavon on her team's short bench following its 69-47 victory against Seton Hall on Saturday. The Knights are down to eight healthy players following a rash of knee injuries.

We're not a one-person team. Individuals don't win championships. Our team is built to win a national championship and that means when players don't play particularly well, some people have to step up and fill that void. - UConn coach Geno Auriemma following the Huskies' 92-71 win against Louisville on Saturday night for the team's best start (15-0) since the 2002-03 season.

Courtside: UConn Sophomore Center Tina Charles

Charles has helped lead her team to the top of the women's basketball rankings. The 15-0 Huskies aren't just winning, they're routing. In its 100-50 victory against Purdue on Jan. 6, UConn handed Purdue its largest margin of defeat in school history. It was the fifth time this season the Huskies have scored more than 90 points.

Q: What's it like to look up at the scoreboard and see your team with 100 points?

A: It's a great feeling. It shows you everyone is doing a good job. All of our games are a team effort. We get help from everyone. It feels great. It feels like everyone's doing their job.

Q: You get an inside look at one of the game's greatest coaches, Geno Auriemma. What's he like?

A: He's probably a little off the wall, but he's a great person and he's like a father figure to us. He expects you to bring your best game every day. He expects a lot from us, but he makes us better players. I like the family atmosphere here and how Coach keeps it real. He made a promise to never give up on me and he hasn't.

Q: The Final Four is in Tampa this year. What do you know about the area?

A: I used to live in Florida [Fort Lauderdale] but I'm not that familiar with Tampa. It would be great to end up in Tampa because I have family near there.

Q: Would they be hitting you up for tickets?

A: Yeah, but it would be worth it because they'd get to see me play.

SLAM DUNK

The Tennessee Lady Vols are hot again. After falling from the top with a loss to Stanford on Dec. 22, Tennessee moved to No.2, just below Connecticut, with victories against No.14 Notre Dame and No.15 DePaul. UConn received all 50 first-place votes last week in retaining the No.1 ranking. Looks like the perennial powerhouses will duke it out for the No.1 ranking until they face each other. We'll have to wait for that until a possible Final Four matchup because Tennessee coach Pat Head Summitt ended the series between the teams this year.

AIR BALL

From the give-me-a-break category: Prairie View A&M coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's claims of unfamiliarity with the rules led to the loss of three scholarships the next three years and a four-year probation term for "major violations." An NCAA investigation determined Cooper-Dyke gave small amounts of money to players and also held unauthorized practices with recruits. It's a little far-fetched that Cooper-Dyke didn't know the rules given the fact she played on two national championship teams at USC.

BY THE NUMBERS

23: Consecutive home victories for Duke. The Blue Devils routed Florida State 70-38 Friday night to continue the streak — the longest active streak in the nation.

45: Points scored by Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley in the Cowboys' 82-63 upset against Oklahoma Saturday night.

74: Consecutive double-doubles for Oklahoma's Courtney Paris. Paris recorded her latest with a 15-point, 19-rebound effort in the Sooners' loss to Oklahoma State.

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